Treasury Time – Step by Step

Our HandmadeMarketing.org was thrilled to come across Jen Bennett Gubicza, from the Etsy shop SweetestPea, and her guide to the Etsy.com “Treasury” feature.   Jen shared her guide with us and we couldn’t wait to share the info with our readers!

Etsy’s Secret Treasury was created by Jared Tarbell.  Jen’s guide was created with help from Jared Tarbell.  Enough said, right?

“This guide was created to help users navigate the Treasury with ease, answer questions, and perhaps show you some new tricks you might not have discovered on your own,” Jen writes.

Keep in mind this post was created by Jen and HandmadeMarketing.org is simply sharing it with our readers with Jen’s consent.  You can see the original post of this Treasury guide at Jen’s blog.

STEP ONE:  Treasury 101.  Etsians can see 20 Treasury lists at a time.  The Treasury is limited to 333 active lists at a time.  The Etsy Home Page rotates a few times daily and is selected from these Treasury lists. The Etsy Admins choose their favorite lists to feature on the front page.  Each Treasury has a random expiration date when created. A list can last anywhere from 1 to 3 days.  When you see a list you might like to check out, simply click on the title.  Lists can be sorted by a few things:

• Hot: These lists are the top (popular) lists. Hotness is calculated by a special, secret formula.  As Jared says, “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”  We’ll just keep that a secret then!
• Title: This sorts titles alphabetically.
• Curator: This sorts by username of the person who created the list alphabetically.
• Expiration: This sorts by how many days/hours a list has before it expires.  In other words, this sorts by time.

STEP TWO:  Get Listed!

This set of instructions for step two may be hard to follow.  But… trust us – you’ll want to follow the detailed steps laid out by Jen and Jared!

Step 1: Enter the Treasury. It will look just like the screenshot on the left.

Step 2: Look in the upper left portion of your screen. Find the number of lists that are currently in the Treasury.  There are two options here – Is the number less than 333?  Or more than 333?

Less than 333? Here’s what to do next:

Step 3:  Scroll to the bottom of the page. You will see a box at the bottom where you may type in the title for your Treasury List. Continue to step three in this post where Jen and Jared will show us how to fill a list with items.

More than 333? Here’s what to do next:

The Treasury will be full and will not allow you to create a new list. You must wait for enough lists to expire so the number falls below 333.  Here’s a tip to get to the point where you can list:

• Sort the lists by “expiration” (click on the “expiration” tab).
• Count backwards from the end to find out when the 333rd list will expire. Come back to the Treasury a few minutes before that list is set to expire and wait for it.  Here’s a hint from Jen and Jared that will help: Look on page 17 (if it’s sorted by expiration date) and it’ll be the 13th list down.
• As soon as you see the box appear at the bottom of your screen, click inside so that you see your cursor blinking. You should have a list. Now, type in your title, and you’re ready to continue on to the other sections of this tutorial that show you how to fill your list with items.
• Be patient!  With only 333 lists allowed for this feature, you may have to try again…

STEP THREE:  Create a List. The first step in creating a list is to click the “Edit” button in your blank item box.  The “Choose a Listing” menu will display asking you for a listing ID.  The listing ID is found in the URL of your browser window.  Here’s a time-saving tip our team really liked:  To add an item to your Treasury list, it is best to open up a new window in which to do your browsing.  When you find an Etsy item you want to add to the list, highlight the URL from your browser, copy it, then paste it into the listing ID field in your treasury window below. The number will automatically be selected from the URL you paste.  Keep in mind you are allowed 12 slots plus 4 alternates (like the Etsy home page).

Now you can decide what is hot!  You can choose to show/hide your alternate selections. You can choose up to 4 additional items for your list. If an item from your list sells, you can move an alternate in to take its place. This does not happen automatically, so keep an eye on your lists. The alternates are a handy way to help you visually see your list. If you have 16 Etsy items visible, try mixing and matching a bit! Take a look to see if two items go better next to each other.  To reorganize your list, simply click and drag items around to different spots. Mix and match to make the best looking list possible.  Alternates are only visible to you as the curator.  These Etsy items are shown at 50% opacity to indicate that they are inactive. You can drag an item from “active” to “alternate” and vice versa.

Next, create a title for your list.  When you enter a title for your list at the bottom of the first screen, you will be taken to a page where you will see a few different fields. There are:

• Places for your subtitle and location
• 12 empty slots to insert items
• 4 alternate slots for extra items (in case one of the items in your list sells)
• A place for comments
• A direct URL link to your list. You can copy this URL and send it to your friends

Here are some important things to note according to Jen and Jared:

• You get to have one active list at a time
• Lists expire anywhere from one to three days
• There is a maximum of 333* total active lists allowed at one time
• Your list can be edited as many times as you like
• All added items must be actively listed for sale, not already sold
• The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion.
• Please do not send conversations to everyone you’ve included in your Treasury. Etsy considers this to be spam.

STEP FOUR:  Customize the List. Not only do you choose a title for your list, but you get a subtitle as well.  Need some ideas?  Jen and Jared say you can do something like this:

Title: My top 12 list
Subtitle: things with numbers

Title: Color Me Bad
Subtitle: Red Items

You can choose to either hide of show your alternate Etsy item selections. You can choose up to 4 additional items for your list. If an item from your list sells, you can move an alternate in to take its place. However, this “change out” does not happen automatically, so keep an eye on your lists.

Next, you need to customize a location.  The default for the location is “somewhere special” – awww!  However, you can change your location to anything you would like.  You can also add a link to this  – text if you choose – your Etsy shop, your blog, your web site, whatever you want.  Our HandmadeMarketing.org team thinks you should utilize this link – why pass up promotion?

STEP FIVE:  Fun Features For Your Treasury.

Blue stars: A blue star indicates that you are the curator of the list.

Gold stars: A gold star shows that one of your Etsy items is included in a list (visible to the public)

Silver stars: A silver star indicates that one of your Etsy items is an alternate in a Treasury (visible only to the curator)

Upper Right Number:  When deciding how to arrange your items, take a look at the little number in the upper right of each card.  That number indicates the number of times people have clicked the item.

Comments: People can leave comments on your Treasury. Jen and Jared recommend reading these comments and commenting right back! This is a good opportunity to say why you like your favorites. Remember, comments are limited by length and the average limit is usually around 40 comments depending on the length of text typed by each person.

Thank you for the wonderful guide Jen and Jared!  The tips and tricks should get some of our HandmadeMarketing.org readers closer to being featured!

Jen reminded us she and Jared last updated this guide in December 2007.  Do you see a step missing?  Do you know any tips for being featured in Treasuries or for creating a list?

Submit your tip to HandmadeMarketing.org or comment on this post! If our editors like your idea, we will feature your information and cite you as the source.